3. The Spirit-Awakened Conscience Psalm 32:3-4

Text:“And you hath He quickened (made Spiritually
alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins…Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:1;5-6.

Good morning, Spirit-awakened
Christian!When God the Spirit moved
upon the waters at the Creation of this world, chaos had to give way, and order
was Created.Similarly, when God the
Spirit, in His Sovereign grace to sinners, moved upon your dead spirit and mine
- we were convinced of our sinfulness; Christ’s full righteousness; and the
judgement of God that shall surely come.We had to be awakened from our Eternally fatal and sinful sleep, through
the Gospel, granted faith to believe; and drawn by God’s cords of love to be
among His redeemed church.What truly
amazing grace!

Thanks be to God, our sins,
all our sins, are now covered by the Blood of Christ Jesus!

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation (entire lifestyle) received by tradition from your fathers; but
with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot.”(1 Peter 1:18-19)

Verse 3.“My bones waxed old.What a killing thing is
sin!It is a pestilent disease!A fire in the bones!While we smother our sin it rages within, and
like a gathering wound swells horribly and torments terribly.”(C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 157)

Even as genuine, Spiritually
regenerate (born again) Christians, we sin daily.However, genuine, Spiritually regenerate
Christians cannot bear having sinned for too long; we soon cry out to the Lord
God for His forgiveness, and are progressively sanctified in order that we
might have close fellowship with Him and with His people, the church.

The pig (unsaved souls)
wallows in the mud with impunity, thick-skinned against the notion of the dirt
and grime it accrues.The sheep (God’s
saved followers) also wanders into the mud, but being God’s chosen sheep -
indwelt by God the Holy Spirit - cannot endure being dirty and so cries out to
God for fresh and constant cleansing.

“If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins (cry out to the Lord
in repentance), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John
1:8-9)

Spiritual conviction of
personal sins only takes place within a Spirit-quickened soul!The carnal man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit…nor can know them.

Verse 3.“…Through my roaring all the day long.None know the pangs of
conviction but those who have endured them.The rack, the wheel, the flaming faggot are ease compared with the Tophet
which a guilty conscience kindles within the breast: better suffer all
the diseases which flesh is heir to, than lie under the crushing sense of the
wrath of Almighty God.The Spanish
Inquisition with all its tortures was nothing to the inquest which conscience
holds within the heart.”(C.H. Spurgeon,
Treasury of David, page 157)

Dictionary Definition: Tophet - (noun) an ancient
place of human sacrifice near Jerusalem, the valley of Hinnom or part of it,
later a place of refuse disposal; hence Hell. (Hebrew: topheth)

“But the wicked are like that
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.There is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked.”(Isaiah 57:20-21)

Verse 4.“For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon
me.God’s finger can crush us -
what must His hand be, and that pressing heavily and continuously!Under terrors of conscience, men have little
rest by night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and
haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread.God’s hand is very helpful when it uplifts,
but it is awful when it presses down: better a world on the shoulder, like
Atlas, than God’s hand on the heart, like David.”(C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 157)

Tell me, dear Christian
friend, have YOU suffered such deep conviction of personal sin, and the
constant dread of knowing you have sinned against the Holy Lord Jesus Who has
saved your never-dying soul?I am
ashamed to say, I have, and have been so utterly relieved when the Lord God
heard my cry of repentance from committed sin, and, by His grace alone, forgave
me, sanctified me afresh; filled me afresh with His Holy Spirit - and restored
me to full and close fellowship with Himself.Hallelujah!

Natural born sinners will
always sin - but God has made a way of restoration for us, ’His people’.Keep short accounts of sin before the Throne
of God’s grace.

Verse 4.“…the drought of summer.During the twelve years from
1846 to 1859 only two slight showers fell in Jerusalem between the months of
May and October.One fell in July, 1858,
another in June, 1859.(Dr Whitty’s
‘Water Supply of Jerusalem’, quoted in Kitto’s Cyclopedia, John Kitto
1804-1854)

Let us strive to keep our
sanctified walk with the Living Lord God clean from sin.Let us realise afresh that, while sinlessness
is unachievable, to sin less we must try to do

Thought:“If God striketh those so sore whom He
favoureth, how sharply and sore will He strike them whom He favoureth
not.”(Gregory 324-389)Repent!

Post a Comment

Author:

Dr. C.K. McClinton Ph.D.

BA (Hons) MA: PhD; D. Litt.

Pastor of

Ulster/American Christian Fellowship Ministry

Northern Ireland (Ulster) UK

KENNY McCLINTON was one of the most feared men in Northern Ireland (Ulster). His years of terrorist activity culminated in two life sentences for murder and other acts of terrorist violence. He had become a thorn in the side of the authorities. Even in prison he could not be tamed and found himself in solitary confinement punishment cells fifteen times within one nine month period.